Turkish police killed two female assailants who hurled grenades and opened fire at an Istanbul police station on Thursday, Turkish media reports said.

According to the Dogan news agency, the two women threw several grenades then opened fire at the riot police headquarters in the Bayrampasa neighbourhood of the city.

The outlawed far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) later claimed responsibility for the attack on their website. The group has staged similar attacks on police stations, largely in Istanbul’s suburbs, in the past.

Earlier, CNN-Turk said the two women then holed up inside a nearby building, with police cordoning off the area and preparing for an assault.

Turkey has been on a state of alert for months since a series of deadly attacks on its soil.

Series of attacks in Istanbul

Last month, 29 people were killed in a car bombing that targeted a military convoy in Ankara, which was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), who have been linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

In 2015, there were four deadly bomb attacks blamed on Islamic State (IS) group jihadists, including the deadliest in Turkey's modern history that killed 103 people in Ankara in October.

There have also been sporadic attacks by radicals from the outlawed ultra-leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).